Brooklyn Nets Looking to End Rival's NBA Cup Chances

The Brooklyn Nets might be out of NBA Cup contention, but they could still have an impact on the race.

Over the first two games of NBA Cup play, the Nets played some solid basketball. While their opener against Detroit got away from them in the second half, the Nets were stout the whole way against the Orlando Magic.

Sitting in last place in East Group B, the Nets’ hopes of making it to the knockout rounds are clearly over, but they’ve still got a chance to ruin some of their rivals’ chances of making anything happen, particularly the Boston Celtics. On Friday night, the Nets will be in Boston to face a Celtics team that desperately needs a win in Cup play after already losing one matchup in the group stage.

While the Celtics are certainly a step behind the 2-0 Pistons and Magic, they should still have a chance at making it in through the wild card if their deficit in the group proves too much to make up. Obviously, the Nets getting a win over the Celtics would crush those dreams, but it isn’t the only way the Nets could play Cup spoiler on Friday night in Beantown.

After a tight win in Philadelphia and a game in Orlando that got away, Boston has a -12 point differential, which is huge considering that is the first tiebreaker for the wild card spot. While a win is necessary for Boston to stay in this race, winning big against Brooklyn is a must.

When the Nets and Celtics played in Brooklyn on Tuesday, the Nets were able to keep things close for the most part, staying within striking distance before Boston secured a 14-point win. Now, with the baseball series shifting back to Boston, the Celtics will need much more than a 14-point margin of victory to seriously get back into the wild card race.

Although it’s not exactly the winning mentality Jordi Fernandez wants his team to have, staying close should be a clear priority for the Nets. In a year where Brooklyn is simply trying to tank and get a good draft pick, it shouldn’t care too much about the results of most games.

However, the NBA Cup could be the lone exception. While the Nets haven’t had much luck through their first two games of the in-season tournament, this could be the point where things turn around a bit for Brooklyn.